


sunset

by laurelsalexis



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Future Fic, jughead is dead in this y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 15:39:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14814167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelsalexis/pseuds/laurelsalexis
Summary: In a world where Jughead dies things will never be as hopeful as the world can be.





	sunset

They say that time heals all wounds. 

F.P. doesn't agree.

Things have been so bad for so very long that he doesn't even know what his normal once was. There were a few good years in his life where things felt right. As if all the bullshit from his life made him the man he was supposed to be in that exact moment. Those times only last a few years, at most, until things are turned upside down again. It leads him down a path of bad decisions that drag him down to the deep deaths of the Hell on Earth he knows so well. 

But he can't even say the last few years of his life have been good. Good moments, maybe. Here or there. But never good. Not in the way that life should be. That's what all the movies and books say. That life should be good. That everyone gets some happy ending. That it's not painful forever.

F.P. thinks that's a load of bullshit.

His days are filled with pain. Not every second of every day, but enough. He's been having a hard time for a while and that's just because he doesn't know how to properly process just about anything. Never really good on the emotional front. It either turned to depression or anger. Usually a mix of both. That turned him to the bottle. 

He doesn't drink anymore.

Rather he keeps the one-year sobriety chip in his pocket, constantly twirling it between his fingers, holding onto it tightly as if he loses it he will lose his sobriety, too. He won't disappoint Alice or his daughter by drinking again. He won't let Jughead's memory be tarnished by his inability to stay sober. 

He can do it.

It's sad, in so many ways, that the death of his son brings some clarity to his life.

Not without a too long drinking stint that burned so many bridges. Too many. People understood, after the fact. He's made many amends. Something he was supposed to do, not something he cared to do. It sounds terrible, when he thinks about how little he actually cares about so many people. 

With the death of his son comes the partial death of himself. 

That part of him will never heal.

The cool air coming off the sunset he watches with Alice is something that causes a wave of calm to come over him, even as so many thoughts plague him. Something that he doesn’t quite experience often. Rarely, actually. After everything so very little can make him not feel like he wants to drink or run away from everything. 

 They’re standing a bit back from the shoreline, F.P. leaning back on the rock, arms folded, the plaid covering him enough to keep him warm. Alice is next to him, the cardigan pulled tightly against her, watching him. She wears no makeup and her hair is straight and messy, growing past her shoulders. 

He can feel her eyes on him as they stand and watch the sunset. They’re somewhere in Connecticut. He doesn’t know and doesn’t care, really. It’s not Riverdale and he’s thankful for that. Alice suggested they leave for a while and he was inclined to agree. 

They all need some space. 

The sound of the dog barking in the distance only causes him to smile, watching as his daughter runs off with a stick she found in the sand. He has the hardest time keeping his eyes off of his daughter. His  _only_ living child. The one person he can no longer fail and is determined to do right by. 

God decided he isn’t worthy of sons.

He understands. 

Gladys and him barely speak now. Maybe before they had their chance but with Jughead gone they cannot make it work. She blames him and he blames himself even more. They mourned together but life moves on. He’ll always love her. She gave him two beautiful children.

Only one remains.

Even Alice gave him a son that he no longer has. 

Whenever he's quiet for too long Alice will reach out to him. Usually through touch. Her hand is on his arm, a soft look at him, one he only sees the beauty in when he turns to look at her. His arms unfold as he wraps an arm around her, pulling her towards him, and their dog barks in the distance again.

Peace. Family. Home. 

It's true what they say about home being a person. It's two people. JB and Alice, once Jughead, but no longer. Betty's gone off to college and Polly chooses to live on some commune neither of them really understand. Hal is in prison and so is Hiram. The town is recovering but he's not there to witness it. 

He leaves the Serpents in capable hands and before he leaves notices the way Fred and Hermione work together to bring Riverdale to the place it could be. 

Maybe it will eventually be a place he wants to bring his daughter. Until then he's fine being where Alice wants to be. If that's staring out as the last inch of sun disappears of the edge of the Earth then he's fine with that. 

He places a kiss on the top of her head. 

Comfort. 

JB is half soaked by the time she runs back up to them.

"Can I dye my hair?" She asks, giving them both those pleading eyes. 

"No."

"Alice." She pleads, ignoring her father, and trying her instead.

She smiles, but shakes her head. "Maybe when you're older." 

She frowns at that. "Can I get a tattoo?"

"When you're older."

She accepts that, had to know the answer wouldn't be any different. "How old?"

"Thirty." F.P. says without blinking an eye. 

" _Dad_." 

He swipes her nose with his thumb, smiling. His girls are the only two things that can make him smile. The only moments where he doesn't feel like he's going to completely fall apart. He won't survive if he loses either of them and for a man who barely believes in anything he prays to whatever God they aren't taken from him too. 

"Are we going back to Riverdale?"

"Eventually." Alice answers for them both, petting the dog at her feet. 

"What about mom?"

"You can see her whenever you want." F.P. will never keep her from her mother. They decided to let JB make her choices now, where she wants to be, and right now she wants to be there. When she wants to go back to her mother she will. For now, F.P. will soak up the time he has with her. 

"Not yet." JB declares before turning to look out at the ocean. "Can we spend tomorrow here?"

"Of course." Alice answers, leaning herself harder against him

F.P. grabs his daughter, pulling her back towards him, a kiss on the top of her head. "Whatever you want, kiddo."

"Whatever?"

"Within reason." He can feel the slippery slope that creates.

"Peach pie."

"She gets that from you." Alice whispers, amusement clear, soft chuckle. "I can make one." 

"Thank you." She grins at Alice as she slips out of the grip of her father. "I'm going inside. Come on, Leia." 

"We'll be inside in a few minutes." Alice tells her as growing labrador follows JB. 

F.P. remains looking out at the ocean. It's dark now and he can hear the waves softly crashing more than he can see them. 

Alice moves so she's standing in front of him, running her hands down his chest, ever so slightly. "How are you?" 

"You don't have to keep checking on me." 

"Yes, I do." Alice dismisses. "You check on me. All the time. I didn't even finish my coffee this morning and you asked me  _three_ times." 

It's true but doesn't stop him from rolling his eyes. "I'm fine." 

Alice nods and takes his hand in her own and tugs him along, walking down closer to the water. "Do you remember that night at the lake?" 

"Yeah." F.P. nods. "You were worried about my black eye and had this imagination of what our lives could be like."

"None of that came true."

"No, it didn't." Instead they both found themselves going down different roads and finding worlds of pain to be in. 

"But that’s okay. We're here now." Alice tries to sound positive but there's a crack in her voice, the wave of sadness washing over them both, ridding them of the calm. "I'm so worried about you." 

He stops and let's go of her hand, brushing her hair out of her face. "Don't be."

"I don't want you to lose what it's in front of you."

He frowns, swallowing back the emotion before he speaks. "I am okay." For once, he believes the words. "I have you and JB. We've all lost a lot but we'll adjust, keep adjusting."

"Did you actually read that book I got you?"

"Yes." F.P. can't keep the soft laughter in. "Load of bullshit but something about how life will fucking suck less eventually. Or whatever. I'll believe it when I see it, but I know we're okay."

"Do you believe that?"

"I believe in us. I believe in my daughter. Anything less I can't accept right now." 

Alice nods and there's only a split second before she's tugging him into the water. "C'mon."

He abides, willing to forget everything for a moment, feeling the rush of the water hit him. Probably should have at least tried to save the shirt but he doesn't care. The cool breeze of the evening makes him freeze but then he pulls Alice to him, arms around her, looking into her eyes. It's as close to some bullshit paradise as he'll ever get. "Promise me." 

"I promise." She says without even asking what. 

"You and me. From now until the end." 

"I promise you, Forsythe Pendleton." 

"Okay, Alice Susanna." 

The glint in her eyes tells him she's up to no good before she's dragging him into the ocean. She splashes him at first before he grabs her with ease, sending them both down into the water. When they both come up for the air the water has drenched them both, only making F.P. find her more beautiful than before. 

He kisses her, softly, holding onto her as if the moment is a dream. All those moments feel so unreal with her and like he's a teenager again. He always used to so desperately grasp onto them and hold on until she slips away. It's been like that since forever. She always slips away and they face the realities of their lives. 

Only this is the reality. This is the truth.

It's not pretty.

Even in the moments where things are calm and nothing is on the horizon for why their lives should be falling apart once again it's still not pretty. It's real and raw. It's the ocean of grief that threatens to do them both in while staying afloat for so few things. For their children, the ones they have left, and for each other. 

There are reasons to live and so they do. 

Without question. 

Without hesitation. 

Alice's arms wrap around F.P. neck as he takes a breath, looking at him in the soft moonlight, floating in the too cold to be in water. "I don't think we should go back to Riverdale." 

"Are you serious?"

"For now. I raised my girls there and my whole life was built and destroyed there. Polly is happy in San Francisco and Betty is happy in Boston. They barely call me anymore and I'm pretending to not notice. But we have this moment in our lives to be people we could never be, to not mess up JB to where she's dead or hates us." 

"Who are you and what have you done with Alice?"

"I'm not going to be a Cooper any longer and Alice Smith thought the world had a million opportunities."

"Okay." It sounds as good as anything else they have on the horizon. 

"Okay?"

"Okay." He kisses her again before he moves to get out of the water. "No Ohio though."

Alice laughs, once again grabbing his hand as they walk to go inside. "No, Ohio."

Maybe Alice will prove to be right and this will be the right decision for them all. 

Maybe JB will always love him and she'll be able to live a long life where she can do whatever it is she wants. It's anyone's guess, but he's willing to find out. 

He doesn't believe in true happiness ever coming again but there's  _something_. Something so small but something he will do everything in his power to grasp.

**Author's Note:**

> This was basically my excuse to write some kind of melancholic yet not total despair kind of thing. I don't know I was in the mood and this short thing happened. 
> 
> [tumblr.](http://laurelsalexis.tumblr.com/)


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